Tips on Assembling Flat Pack Furniture

May 20, 2017

There must be times you stumble upon some furniture stores that encourage flat pack, causing you to be puzzled. Apart from inquiring the staffs on the very complicated manual booklet, what can you do to have the process go smoothly and efficiently?

Environment

You wouldn’t want to drag the furniture from room to room, would you? So the first step is to put the components in the room you are going to use the furniture in, then start assembling. It is also important to have something placed underneath the furniture when you start putting them together to prevent unnecessary abrasion with the floor that causes damage to both.

Tools

There is a saying in Chinese ‘If you want to do something right, you have to have the precise tools first’ - having the right tools to the according assembly process is very important. For instance, in light of ensuring horizontal alignment, a gradienter is needed. It is ultra important to have wall-hung furnitures (headboard, TV, or shelves) to be 90 degree secured as it can be dangerous when assembled abruptly. Common tools that are needed for self assembly will be battery drill, cross head screw, small hammer, etc. Just double check if you have the necessary tools in hand before starting anything.

Before you start…

You need to make sure all the components are present, flawless and familiarise yourself with all the procedures stated in the manual to prevent a small mistake that can cause you to start the whole assembly all over again - afterall, you wouldn’t want such a nuisance! You might as well want to put all the fixings and small parts (i.e. nails) in containers so you won’t lose them half way through the assembly.

Extending the lifespan

Flat pack furniture is ordinary nowadays, but they can become wobbly briefly after just a few months. A quick tip to tackle that would simply be applying some wood glue in the intersections during the assembly and you can have much more durable pieces.